MINE!

A look at the increasing complexities of ownership.

Law professors Heller and Salzman bring their expertise to bear on this cogent explanation of the myriad ways that humans define, claim, and defend ownership. Ownership, they assert, “is the scaffolding that society uses to structure every struggle over the things we all want.” Those things range from knee space on airplanes to inheritances, internet passwords to genetic codes, natural resources to online purchases. Illustrating their analysis with abundant examples, the authors identify six pathways to claiming ownership: possession, attachment, first-in-time, labor, self-ownership, and family. Possession “is a primal instinct rooted in animal behavior and hardwired in our brains,” but it does not always apply to disputes over ownership, such as in cases of inheritance and divorce. The authors cite lawsuits, for example, where husbands or wives claim ownership to finances based on their contributions to their spouse’s career and earnings—even future earnings. Awarding ownership because of labor (I’ve made it, it’s mine) becomes problematic when it applies to complex systems, such as technological or scientific discoveries. Patents, which were designed to protect the holder’s ownership, have created “ownership gridlock” that can inhibit innovation, such as the development of new drugs. The online world presents new complications. “When you buy online,” write the authors, “you get limited ownership of whatever you buy, with terms that the internet company can change at will.” They continue, “the companies we interact with online are masters of ownership engineering.” Because “much of our identity is bound up with the things we own,” the authors are rightly skeptical of the sharing economy, which fragments ownership. If, for example, Airbnb renters take over a community, neighborhood solidarity erodes. Being cognizant of rules of ownership, they hope, can make each of us “a more effective advocate for yourself, your community, and our common good.” For a more in-depth examination of ownership as it applies to physical land, pair this book with Simon Winchester’s Land.

A thoughtful and illuminating study.